Page:Orczy--the gates of Kamt.djvu/332

 tightly grasped by the hand: I think we both felt that we were nearing the final crisis in our strange and weird adventure.

"Thou art mighty, oh, beloved of the gods," whispered Ur-tasen, so low that we could scarcely hear; "thou art great, and the people of Kamt do worship thee … and I, the most powerful in the land, more powerful than any Pharaoh—for I rule over the dead as well as over the living—I do grovel at thy feet. Call forth the people of Kamt … let them come in hundreds and in thousands, and in tens of thousands! let them come to Men-ne-fer … to see the high priest of Ra kneeling humbly before the emissary of the gods, and with his hands tying the sandals upon the stranger's feet….

"It is a great and glorious festival," he added with growing eagerness, seeing that Hugh and I had, in a flash, realised what was passing in his mind. "The most exquisite products of the land will decorate the temple of the god.… In the middle of the sanctuary, upon a throne of gold, surrounded by the priests of Ra, there will stand he who is beloved of the gods … the festival shall be great and glorious, but sorrow will be in the hearts of all the people of Kamt … for the son of Ra, the emissary of the Most High … will return to the heavenly land … from whence he came."

Hugh did not speak; in his eyes I read the awakening of a great hope—an infinite peace and relief; he had guessed that the high priest, terrified and humbled, was, of his own accord, begging for that which Hugh even would never have had the power to force him to grant.

"But in the hearts of the people of Kamt," added Ur-tasen, finally, "there will for ever dwell the memory